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*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September. **Time in months from filing to completion.#This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts. ##This is the total number of months that any judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Notable cases

• Woman sues school for using her Facebook photo without permission (2014)

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A photo of teenager Chelsea Chaney in a bikini was used by an instructor in Fayette County, Georgia, as an example of online privacy (or lack thereof) for an Internet safety class. After discovering this, Chaney sued her school district for $2 million, claiming that her privacy was violated and that she did not authorize that use of her photo.[2]

The court, in a majority opinion written by Judge Timothy Batten, sided with the school district and granted a motion to dismiss most of the lawsuit. The court noted that the privacy setting chosen by Chaney for the photo allowed "friends and friends of friends" on Facebook to see the photo, so she had authorized strangers to view it. The opinion stated, "The Supreme Court consistently has held that a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties."[3]

On December 17, 2013, Judge Richard Story granted a preliminary injunction in CTIA - The Wireless Association's favor, enjoining the Georgia Public Service Commission from imposing a $5 per month fee or 500 minute limit on subsidized telephone services provided to low-income residents through the federal Lifeline program. In the underlying case, the state of Georgia attempted to institute the rate regulation to curb fraudulent use of the subsidized phone lines. CTIA filed suit and requested an injunction, arguing that the state's new rule was prohibited under the Federal Communications Act of 1934. Story found that CTIA would be likely to succeed in its suit, and granted an injunction pending its ultimate resolution, noting that "while the status quo may permit some level of fraud to continue, the public interest tilts in favor of providing telephone services to low-income households that otherwise would be unable to afford mobile phones."[4]

On June 27, 2011, Thrash issued an injunction preventing portions of a Georgia immigration law called overly restrictive by opponents from going into effect as scheduled. In response to a suit brought against the law by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, Thrash struck the provisions prohibiting the knowing transport or shelter of illegal aliens and allowing law enforcement to investigate the immigration status of criminal suspects without identification. Though he stated that "the apparent legislative intent [of the law] is to create such a climate of hostility, fear, mistrust and insecurity that all illegal aliens will leave Georgia," he allowed a number of the law's provisions to enter into effect, including criminal penalties for using a fake ID to obtain employment.[5]

Judge Story was the presiding judge over the case of a person known as the "Crown Royal Bandit" who committed a string of thirty robberies by using Crown Royal Whiskey bags to hide the money he stole in bank robberies.[6]
The judge handed down a 127-year federal prison sentence equal to life imprisonment after the defendant was convicted of committing nearly thirty bank robberies from 1997 to 2008. The person who committed the robberies was arrested in 2008 after a tip in a jail found the robber living with a person who was arrested for methamphetamine trafficking.[6]

Judge Story dismissed a case filed against the General Services Administration by the children of the late Robert Klein, a former federal magistrate judge. The family sued the Government Services Administration over mold in the federal courthouse in Miami where the judge worked, claiming that GSA contractors did a poor job of re-modeling the courthouse. The case was dismissed after it was found that there was no jurisdiction of the case.[7]

Judge Batten ruled against wireless giant AT&T who sued Verizon over its "there's a map for that" ad campaign. AT&T sued its rival over claims that Verizon misled customers using the map of its 3G coverage area while in fact AT&T customers could make calls in its non-3G areas. The judge ruled against AT&T.[8]

On September 30, 2009, Judge Panell tossed out a plan for the State of Georgia to resolve deficiencies in its psychiatric hospitals. The ruling came after Georgia had attempted to fix issues in its psychiatric hospitals discovered in a 2007 investigation. The investigation unearthed rampant instances of rape, suicide, and murder in seven hospitals. The judge ruled against the plan because the United States Department of Justice found areas of the settlement that were not in agreement with the State of Georgia.[9]

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy in the office of chief judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion.[11][12]